


watching your world from afar

by ringerxo



Category: Shadowhunters (TV), The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: But I can't wait, Date Night, Developing Relationship, Eydis tried her best, Her fanart ruined me, Hickeys, I'm an impatient bitch, It was spectacular, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Neck Kissing, Paris - Freeform, Senses, Thank Noksindra for this, Touching, Touchy-Feely, Very unBETAed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-02-06
Packaged: 2018-09-22 13:00:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9608600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ringerxo/pseuds/ringerxo
Summary: Alec and Magnus go on their first date. Alec learns Magnus; Magnus teaches him about the both of them.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [noksindra (Rubikon)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rubikon/gifts).



> Inspired entirely by [this](https://twitter.com/noksindra/status/828679015712096261) and those hickeys. Written on the fly - within a couple of hours - and I also have a cold and sore throat, but this had to be written. Noksindra is wonderful wonderfullllllllll.
> 
> Thanks to the wonderful [Eydis](https://twitter.com/KalenasBigSis) for BETAing! All mistakes are my own. She's wonderful.
> 
> It's all about touch and sensation and Alec learning things and [this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16AWcaERD6I) is the song that the title is from and I know it's vague but it's the song from the OC's first scene where Ryan and Marissa made out so I have a special place for it in my heart when it comes to couples making out.
> 
> In any case.
> 
> Enjoy!

“So…”

Alec looked up at Magnus, and immediately ducked his head, feeling the blush spread over his cheeks for the umpteenth time that night. Which was ironic, because he was holding Magnus’s hand and they were sitting on one of the viewing decks of the Eiffel Tower, legs hanging over the railing and leaning into each other. Blushing was, by far,  **not** the most cliche thing he had done that night.

Their first date had, so far, been a success. They had dinner amongst the vibrant food trucks and stalls of Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis; a game of pool and innuendos, accompanied by drinks at a small, comfortable bar nearby; and now, wrapped up in coats and a cloaking charm to hide them from watchful security guards, they were surveying the city lights.

Alec wasn’t afraid of heights - to an archer, every height was an opportunity. He had grabbed Magnus’s hand as they sat down because - well, because he wanted to.

The entire evening was an exercise in doing things because he wanted to, as opposed to doing things because they were right or according to Clave guidelines. He added spicy sauce to his falafel because he wanted to (and took great joy in the fact that Magnus seemed impressed by the fact that he didn’t choke to death from the spice). He ordered beer because he wanted to. And as they left the bar, he tucked his arm into Magnus’s because he wanted to.

Magnus was uncharacteristically quiet when he did those things, as if he could tell that Alec was reclaiming agency over his own actions. But he didn’t pull back, or ask questions; he just observed, his eyes softening every time Alec looked at him.

“Is everything alright, Alexander?” Magnus asked, bringing him out of his reverie. Alec looked at him, and this time he held his gaze. He could blame the blush on the wind chill.

“Yeah,” Alec said, then looked out to the blinking landscape and repeated himself softly, “yeah.”

“Penny for your thoughts?”

Alec let out a surprised laugh. “Honestly, I think they’re worth more than that, if only because of inflation since that phrase was coined,” he said offhandedly, then paused.

Magnus froze, then snorted. “Oh no,” he said, then started laughing, leaning into Alec for support.

They both laughed, leaning into each other, hair ruffling in the wind, hands clasped. “That,” Alec said, chuckling, “was an accident.”

“Mmm.”

“You don’t believe me?” Alec said, turning to Magnus with wide eyes. A spark of laughter danced through Magnus’s eyes, and just like that, Alec had forgotten his witty retort.

“Of course I believe you, Alexander,” Magnus said softly, nudging Alec with his shoulder and turning back to survey the view. Alec kept looking at him, spellbound at how the lights of the Tower and the city lights played out across his face, creating planes of shadow and light with Magnus’s coppery skin as a canvas.

“I just…” Magnus hummed to himself. “Didn’t imagine that your sense of humor was so… patriarchal. You learn something new every day.”

“I just told you that it was by acc-- wait a minute,” Alec said, cottoning on. “Did you just say that I have dad humor?”

Magnus grinned and shrugged. “Your words.”

Alec raised his eyebrows and scoffed, then nudged Magnus gently. They stayed close, comfortable silence wrapping around them, until Alec cleared his throat and turned to look at Magnus.

“Thanks,” he said sincerely. “Tonight was really fun. And I… had fun. I mean, I said that. I-- it was…”

“Fun?”

Alec frowned and Magnus laughed, raising his fingers to smooth out Alec’s forehead. “Don’t worry, darling,” he said, “it’s no shame to be at a loss for words.”

“It kind of is,” Alec muttered, but didn’t move as Magnus’s fingers moved inexorably slowly down his face, smoothing out the frown lines around his mouth, fingertips fluttering over his lips and making Alec’s heart match their rhythm. “Especially when you want to say things, and they don’t come out right. With the words that you have.”

“In danger of sounding like a cliche, Alexander,” Magnus murmured, fingers dropping to draw Alec’s chin closer until their noses were touching, “Actions can sometimes speak louder than words.”

This was not the first kiss they had shared. Magnus had kissed his hand several times, his cheek as well, and the corner of his mouth instead of wiping the tahini off with his fingers. But as Alec closed his eyes and opened his mouth on a sigh, his internal monologue fizzed away and all he could hear was heartbeats, sighs, the slide of fingers on skin.

This was slow, much slower than he was used to. It wasn’t stolen in the back hallway of the institute, or making a statement at his wedding. This was a statement of a different kind.

Magnus licked at Alec’s lips and sparks showered down his spine. This was new. It was the best, very best, kind of new. He felt tingly, as if someone had just introduced him to the concept of fresh air.

“Did you feel that?” he murmured against Magnus’s lips.

“What?” Magnus murmured back, and Alec carefully copied him, swiping his tongue over Magnus’s plush lips, then doing it again, you know, just in case he didn’t get it the first time.

Magnus made a  _ noise _ in the back of his throat, and Alec grinned, his lips curving against Magnus’s as he closed his eyes again. “Learned that from you,” he murmured, then nibbled on Magnus’s bottom lip, a bright frame of a memory slipping into his mind’s eye. (A white jacket, hopeful eyes, the slightest pull at his bottom lip, the pull, the pull, the toppling after it, his heartbeat, fast, fast.)

“That’s not from me,” Magnus whispered, voice hoarse as he pulled away slightly.

Alec caught his gaze and smiled slowly. “It is.” His gaze flickered down to Magnus’s lips, shining and slightly parted, and his smile grew, darker, a promise hovering between them. “An earlier lesson.”

Magnus stared at him, and then he was a flurry of lips and teeth, kissing Alec hard and fast, hands gaining purchase in Alec’s black shirt and pulling him closer.

Alec could barely keep up with all the new things he was learning, his senses soaring and his mind just instructing him to touch, touch,  _ touch, _ but he tried his best; when his tongue licked its way cautiously into Magnus’s mouth, Magnus moaned and pulled him in closer.

After what seemed like entirely too short of an eternity, they surfaced for air, panting. Magnus leaned his forehead against Alec’s and took deep breaths, a smile slowly growing until it turned blinding.

Alec huffed out a breath. “That was… new.”

“And good,” Magnus said, then caught Alec’s gaze. “It was good, right?”

Alec nodded. “Yeah, it was. Good. Very, very good.”

Magnus smiled and reached for one of Alec’s hands, threading his fingers through his. “It can be so much better,” he said slowly, a promise and request blooming in his gaze. “Let me show you.”

Alec nodded.

\---

Fifteen minutes later found them stumbling into Magnus’s bedroom, laughing in between kisses, hands roving over each other.

They had portalled straight into the loft. Alec’s hands learned new paths down Magnus’s arms, up his torso, sliding over silk and beads. He wasn’t overwhelmed when it came to touch, now - everything appeared to him with the sharpest clarity, and was filed away for future reference.

He slid his palms down Magnus’s back, and heard him sigh. Gently slid them up Magnus’s sides, and Magnus buried his face in the nook of Alec’s neck.

They were standing in the living room, swaying. Alec slid his fingers into Magnus’s hair and Magnus tipped his head back, eyes closed and neck bared, humming.

Alec couldn’t look away. He drank Magnus in with his eyes, moving them over the sight in front of him time and again, until Magnus opened his eyes, confused.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. “You stopped.”

“Just…” Alec said, then swallowed, and continued thickly, “just looking.”

“You can touch, too,” Magnus teased him, but his eyes, flickering between warm brown and electric golden, settled on gold. He was like a work of art, a masterpiece.

“How?” Alec rasped out.

Magnus grasped one of Alec’s hands.

“Follow my lead,” he said simply, searching Alec’s gaze, “and tell me how it feels.”

And now they were in his bedroom, stumbling around as Magnus took off his necklaces and rings. After every new touch, Alec would gasp out “Good, so good”, and reciprocate; when Magnus took off his necklace, Alec frowned and said, “Not good.”

“Really?” Magnus inquired, a smile lighting up his face. Alec shook his head, hair mussed up from when Magnus carded his fingers through it, slightly scratching the scalp (“very good, Magnus-- oh--!”).

“Not fair,” he clarified, and pulling away from Magnus’s embrace for a few moments, he pulled off his shirt, having deposited his jacket in the living room.

“Now, who isn’t being fair,” Magnus muttered, mouth suddenly dry as he surveyed the runes wrapping themselves around his Shadowhunter’s torso and arms, the muscles, the dusting of chest hair.

“You’re taking off your clothing,” Alec pointed out. “I’m just evening the playing field.”

“You think this is even?” Magnus growled, and jumped Alec, who stumbled back and fell onto the bed.

“This better?” Alec asked breathlessly, smirking, then choked on a gasp as Magnus moved his head down to Alec’s neck and began sucking at the spot right above his clavicle.

This was new, just like most of the things that night, but somehow carried more with it. Alec felt the tingling spread, and then a sharp but not unpleasant pain as Magnus nibbled, then pulled back and examined Alec’s neck.

Alec was panting, eyes wide. “What was that?” he asked.

“A hickey,” Magnus said, his fingertips dancing over it and causing Alec’s breath to hitch as the sensation lit his nerves on fire. “It’s a bite of affection-- whoa!”

Alec grinned at Magnus from above, having flipped them over. “My turn.”

He leaned down, and Magnus gasped, scrabbling for purchase on the sheets as Alec’s tongue and teeth worried at his skin with growing confidence.

Finally, Alec pulled back and barely had the time to fully appreciate how wrecked Magnus looked, pupils blown and golden cat eyes hooded, when Magnus flipped them back over.

“I can…” Magnus began, then hesitated. “I can erase that before you leave,” he offered. “In case--”

“No,” Alec said firmly. “Don’t. I want it. To stay.”

Magnus searched his gaze again. “Are you sure?”

Alec nodded, and Magnus’s smile bloomed on his face, sunny and wide.

“I really do learn something new about you every day.” 

As he leaned down to kiss Alec, fingers entwining on the pillow next to them, their gazes met for a split second before they lost themselves to sensation again; and in that gaze, there was a modicum of peace.


End file.
